


i'll see you in the future when we're older

by thequeenofokay



Series: cross my heart; karainward verse [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, Kid Fic, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-07 00:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4243317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeenofokay/pseuds/thequeenofokay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye sits opposite Raina, who smiles like she was expecting to see her.</p><p>‘Skye,’ she says, ‘it’s been a long time.’</p><p>// in which Skye tracks down Raina a few years down the road and finds not exactly what she would have expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll see you in the future when we're older

**Author's Note:**

> \+ this is sort of set a few years after "our eyes are never closing". idk if having read that is really necessary but whatever. just appreciate karainward being a cute lil family.
> 
> \+ also i wrote this on my phone. on a plane. so it's not the //best// thing ever.
> 
> \+ title from "laughter lines" by bastille.

Skye flicks through the pictures laid out on her desk again as she waits for Coulson to pick up.

He answers with, ‘You’re speaking to Director Coulson.’

‘Sir,’ she says. ‘It’s Skye.’

‘Skye!’ He sounds pleased to hear from her at least. ‘Are you heading back to the base soon?’

‘No,’ she says. ‘I needed to check something over with you.’

‘Certainly,’ he says. ‘What do you need?’

She takes a breath. ‘My team has located a confirmed Inhuman and her child.’

She can hear Coulson humming thoughtfully. ‘A child does complicate the process,’ he says.

‘No,’ she cuts in. ‘It’s not just that—we’ve succeeded in the evaluation process before when the gifted has children. This is _more_ complicated.’

‘Oh?’ he asks.

‘It’s Raina,’ Skye says.

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. ‘What’s Raina doing with a child?’

‘From what we can tell, it’s hers,’ Skye says. She glances down at the surveillance photo on the top of the pile—one of the first they captured—which shows Raina holding the hand of a little girl.

‘Huh.’ Skye can understand perfectly how Coulson feels, if she’s honest. ‘Raina’s certainly dangerous,’ he says. ‘She needs to be brought in, but the child could make her more difficult to deal with. What about the rest of her... family?’

Skye smiles. She can’t help herself. There’s just something so ridiculous about the whole thing. ‘You won’t believe this,’ she says. She picks up one of the photos from further down the pile and stares at it because honestly, she can’t quite believe it herself. ‘I think Ward is the father.’

There’s an understandable shocked silence from Coulson. Skye takes the opportunity to continue.

‘And,’ she says, ‘I’m pretty sure they’re still _with_ Agent 33.’

‘Kara Palamas?’ Coulson confirms.

‘Yeah. There’s another girl—younger—we guessed she’s Ward and Palamas’s kid, but maybe she’s Raina’s too,’ Skye says. ‘We’ve not been able to confirm if either of the children have powers yet.’

She thinks she hears Coulson give a frustrated little sigh. ‘So you’re saying that not only are we dealing with a dangerous Inhuman and either one or two children who may or may not also have powers,’ he says, ‘but we’ve also got two dangerous criminals who have been on Shield’s most wanted list for years?’

Skye pauses. ‘Yes,’ she says, ‘pretty much.’

He groans. ‘Okay. I’ll send in backup for you.’

Skye hesitates. He must notice.

‘Skye?’ he asks.

‘No,’ she says, ‘if you want to send in backup, go for it.’

‘Skye,’ he says again, ‘this is your operation. How do you want to play it?’

‘They’ll have an escape plan,’ she says. ‘As soon as they realise we’re here, they’ll run. Sending in backup could reveal us.’

‘True,’ Coulson agrees.

‘Give me a day,’ she decides. ‘I’ll work something out. And if I can’t, you can send in a team to take them in.’

 

**

 

Raina sits delicately at a table for two outside a cafe on a busy street, in clear view of Skye’s surveillance van.

‘They know we’re here, don’t they?’ Skye says.

Beside her, Lincoln nods. ‘It looks like it.’

‘I have to go out, don’t I?’ she says.

Lincoln doesn’t exactly look thrilled with the idea. ‘Probably,’ he says. ‘She could want a deal.’

Skye nods. She turns her earpiece on. ‘Make sure our team is prepped in case I need to call them in.’

‘Sure,’ he says. ‘Stay safe.’

‘I’ll try,’ she says as she leaves the van.

Skye sits opposite Raina, who smiles like she was expecting to see her.

‘Skye,’ she says, ‘it’s been a long time.’

‘Not long enough,’ Skye says. ‘You know why I’m here.’

Raina smiles. ‘To take me in, I assume. But let’s not rush, we have so much catching up to do.’

‘Sure,’ Skye says. ‘Let’s catch up. How about we start with your family?’

Raina’s smile becomes a little more dangerous, but she doesn’t say anything.

‘You have two daughters, right?’ Skye asks. ‘What are their names?’

‘So you know what to put them down as on your wanted list for Shield?’ Raina asks.

‘You didn’t answer my question,’ Skye says. ‘We’re just catching up. I’m just interested in your family.’

Raina tilts her head, and Skye feels like she’s being calculated, examined. ‘Iris and April,’ Raina tells her.

‘How pretty,’ Skye says.

Through her earpiece Lincoln adds, ‘They are, actually.’ Which, while true, is not helpful.

‘You’re not going to touch them,’ Raina says. ‘Not while any of us are still breathing.’

‘And "any of you" being... you, Ward and 33?’ Skye confirms.

‘Kara,’ Raina corrects, and Skye nods, conceding.

‘How did you end up _with_ those two anyway?’ Skye asks.

Raina shrugs lightly. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘One that ends in happy families,’ Skye says.

Raina smiles. She leans forward against the table between them. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it?’ she says. ‘To you, we were the monsters, the criminals. And yet we’re the ones with the family.’ Skye knows Raina’s just trying to get a rise out of her, just like Skye’s been doing to her.

‘Do you wish it was you?’ Raina continues. ‘Do you wish you were the one with the family? You were so _close_.’ Her expression shifts to faux sympathy. ‘And then you lost it.’

‘Skye,’ Lincoln says in her ear, ‘don’t let her get to you.’

‘I have a family,’ Skye says, but she realises that must have been the wrong answer, because Raina’s smiling like she’s winning.

‘Yes,’ Raina muses. ‘Shield. They’re the kind of family that abandoned Kara. Is that right?’

Skye’s pretty sure this isn’t a conversation she wants to have, but she also knows it could anger Raina enough for her to let something slip. ‘They don’t stand for traitors.’

‘No,’ Raina agrees. ‘They hunt them down years later.’

‘We protect people,’ Skye says, ‘from threats.’

‘So my children are a threat?’ Raina asks, and there’s poison in her voice.

Skye has to admit, the thought of dragging _children_ into this mess makes her feel a little sick, but she just shrugs. ‘They need evaluated,’ she replies. ‘You know why.’

Raina smiles dangerously. ‘I know you have the power to level this entire street,’ she says. ‘But so do we.’

‘But you wouldn’t,’ Skye says. ‘Not if your children are nearby. You wouldn’t risk anything happening to them. So does that mean they’re already escaping with Ward and Kara? Should we be putting out an APB?’

Raina stays silent, giving nothing away.

‘Why did they leave you?’ Skye goes on. ‘Let me guess—you’re the distraction. They’re taking your kids to safety, then one of them will come back for you.’

Still, Raina remains impassive, giving Skye nothing to work with.

‘Unless,’ Skye says, ‘it’s one of your daughters that has the power to—what was it—level the entire street?’ She frowns. ‘Would you really send them through the mist this young? Would you _use_ them that way?’

Something dangerous flashes in Raina’s eyes. ‘Don’t you _dare_ suggest I’d ever let my daughter be harmed,’ she hisses.

‘Daughter,’ Lincoln repeats through Skye’s comm. ‘Singular. Skye, which could mean just one of them is Inhuman.’

‘Does that mean you’ve not let them transform?’ Skye asks.

Raina sighs. ‘You know,’ she says, ‘I’m tired of talking.’ She glances across the cafe and then back at Skye. ‘We want a deal.’

Skye almost laughs. ‘Of course you do,’ she says. ‘What are your terms, then?’

‘For a start,’ Raina says, ‘we won’t kill you.’

Skye blinks. Then, there’s the click of a gun cocking. A woman two tables away is holding a gun to her under the table. She raises a hand to her temple, and her face flickers, revealing Kara.

‘So I have to take two of you?’ Skye says.

Raina smiles, and points a finger at Skye’s heart. She looks down to see the red laser dot of a sniper rifle. Ward must be somewhere in the buildings around them.

‘I’m listening,’ Skye says.

‘It’s simple,’ Raina says. ‘Leave us alone. You can name your price, and we’ll let you walk away afterwards.’

Skye’s starting to regret not taking Coulson’s backup and just sending in a strike team; then again, though, if they knew Shield were coming that could just have ended in a bloodbath.

She holds a finger to her earpiece. ‘Lincoln,’ she says, noticing the way Raina’s eyes immediately flicker to Shield’s van. ‘Talk to me.’

‘The team is ready, and we know which building Ward is watching you from with Iris and April,’ he says. ‘But I can’t guarantee that we can capture any of them without you being harmed.’

Skye grimaces. ‘Understood.’

This is the kind of hard call she’s learned to make over the years of running her team. It’s still difficult, though, and more difficult given how personal the situation is.

‘Fine,’ Skye says. ‘We want any information you’ve got that’s relevant to Shield’s interests, and we want to evaluate and index anyone in your family with powers. After that, you’re free to go.’

Raina looks at Kara, and Skye feels like there’s a conversation she’s missing. ‘We won’t go anywhere with you,’ she says. ‘If you evaluate us, it’s on our terms.’

Skye nods. It could be worse. ‘Sure,’ she says.

Raina and Kara stand. Kara’s still got a gun trained on Skye. ‘We’ll take this up to Grant,’ Raina says. She turns to Skye. ‘You can take two agents up.’

Skye nods, standing slowly. ‘Lincoln,’ she says into her earpiece, ‘you and Sebastian are with me.’

‘Got it,’ he says. ‘We’ll be with you in a second.’

By the time she’s crossed the street with Kara and Raina, Lincoln and Sebastian are waiting. They’re led into the building opposite the cafe, and up to a fifth floor apartment.

Kara opens the door. Skye’s greeted with a sight she’d never expected to see: Ward’s got a baby in one arm, a gun in his other hand, and his other daughter is hiding behind his leg.

‘What happened?’ he asks. ‘Why are _they_ here?’

Raina’s mouth twists into a frown. ‘We had to compromise. They’ll be gone soon, and we can start to pack up.’

‘Pack up?’ Skye repeats.

Raina laughs with condescension. ‘Did you think we’d stay here?’ she asks. ‘It’s useless now that you’ve found it.’

Skye doesn’t answer, instead taking a moment to take in the apartment. She’s not sure why she’s so surprised to realise it’s their _home_ , complete with mismatched furniture and their daughter’s toys and drawings.

Lincoln’s explaining to everyone what they need to do. Usually they’d to this together, but this time Skye knows it’s better him than her—there’s less bad blood.

She watches Grant squeeze Kara’s arm comfortingly and hand over the baby to her. Kara moves through towards the kitchen with her, passing Skye as she goes.

She gives Skye a slightly pitying look. ‘Give me a hand making tea?’ she asks, and Skye can see her ignoring the glare Ward, who is now holding the older daughter, is shooting their way.

Skye nods and shuffles after her. She’s got a nasty feeling of being utterly useless and out of place. She stands a little awkwardly by the wall, watching as Kara takes mugs and packs of tea from cupboards.

‘Do you need any help?’ Skye asks. ‘I can hold the baby if you want.’

Kara turns. Skye doesn’t miss the momentary look of fear in her eyes as she looks between the baby and Skye, before she nods slowly. ‘Sure,’ she says, passing her gently over.

‘So is this April or Iris?’ Skye asks, shifting the baby in her arms.

‘April,’ Kara says, and Skye can see her smiling. ‘She’s a year and a half old. Iris is three.’ She glances out the kitchen door, looking worried again, to where Ward’s holding Iris and talking to Lincoln.

‘And it’s Iris that’s...’ Skye begins.

‘Inhuman,’ Kara finishes. ‘Yes. She’s biologically Raina’s.’

‘Does she have her powers?’ Skye asks.

Kara frowns. ‘She’s _three_.’

‘So no?’

Kara gives her an appraising sort of look, and April takes the opportunity to make a little whimpering sound, grab a handful of Skye’s hair and tug.

Skye thinks Kara’s probably laughing at her, and she doesn’t offer any kind of help as she finishes off the tea. Skye gently attempts to pry April’s fist off, but only succeeds in ending up with the baby holding her finger instead.

She doesn’t try to make April let go this time. For a _start_ , she’s not going to come into Kara, Ward and Raina’s house and make their baby _cry_. But April’s also looking up at her with big dark eyes, and it feels cruel.

When the tea’s done, Skye follows Kara back through to the others. Ward’s still shooting her glares, but it’s not like she ever expected anything else from him. She _did_ shoot him last time she saw him, and maybe that was over three years ago, but she can’t really blame him for holding a grudge. She’s got a few of her own.

Raina’s sitting rigidly, having blood taken, and she reaches out for Kara with her free hand. Kara takes it and wraps an arm around Raina’s shoulders, so Raina can rest her head on Kara’s stomach.

‘What’s she doing with April?’ Raina asks. Skye sees her gripping Kara’s hand tighter as the needle goes in.

‘It’s okay,’ Kara says. ‘She won’t hurt her.’ It sounds a little like a threat, and Skye can feel their eyes on her. She sips her tea and focuses on April instead, pointedly not looking up.

‘No,’ Raina agrees, voice lower. She sighs gently. ‘We’ll be safe again soon.’

Skye knows it’s wrong—these people are _terrible_ —but she feels suddenly guilty. Like she’s reopened a healing wound.

April babbles at her and smiles in that wonderful, innocent way children do. Skye softens. At least someone here likes her.

‘Hiya,’ she whispers to the baby. She wonders if April will remember any of this. She wonders if she’ll just be a bitter story told to the girl when she's older, or if she’ll never be mentioned at all. Not that she should be anything more. Not that she should want to be.

April gurgles something like "hello" back, and Skye can’t stop herself from smiling—she’s not been around children in a long time, maybe not properly since the orphanage. She’s forgotten how _lovely_ they can be.

She moves over to where Lincoln is with Ward and Iris.

‘Thinking of stealing her?’ Lincoln asks, nodding towards April in Skye’s arms.

‘Oh god,’ Skye hisses, ‘don’t even joke about that. If they think I’ve even _considered_ it they’ll have my head.’

Lincoln laughs. ‘True,’ he agrees. ‘She’s sweet, though.’

Skye hums in agreement. ‘Are you done?’ she asks.

Lincoln nods. He takes a step away from Ward and Iris so they can talk a little more privately. ‘We’re just finishing up, but they cooperated,’ he says. ‘Grudgingly, but they cooperated.’

Skye almost laughs. ‘Grudgingly is better than I’d hoped for,’ she says. ‘No one was seriously injured, so I’m going to consider it a success.’

‘Especially considering we’ve invaded their home and tested their child,’ Lincoln says.

‘You’re making us sound like monsters,’ she complains.

Ward, who had been quietly talking to Iris, snorts. Skye raises an eyebrow, but Lincoln cuts in before she can say anything.

He kneels down so that he’s on level with Iris. ‘We’ve just got one more little test to do,’ he says.

‘Will it hurt too?’ Iris asks, and Skye can feel her chest tighten.

‘No,’ Lincoln promises. ‘It won’t hurt a bit.’ He holds out a tablet. ‘I just need you to put your hand on the screen,’ he says.

Iris looks to Ward for confirmation then spreads her little palm out against the screen.

‘All done,’ Lincoln says when it beeps, and he turns away to study the information collected.

Iris smiles. She turns her attention up to her sister and to Skye. ‘Who’re you?’ she asks.

‘That’s Skye,’ Ward says, before she can answer. ‘She’s a Shield agent too.’

Iris nods, frowning slightly. ‘Are you bad?’ she asks.

Skye blinks. ‘No,’ she says, a little taken aback. ‘I mean, I try to do my best.’

Iris looks unconvinced. ‘Okay,’ she says. She hops off her dad’s knee, curls bouncing, and heads for Kara and Raina.

Ward watches her go. He stands, turning to Skye.

‘I can take April off you,’ he says. Skye hands her over, a little reluctantly.

The soft look on Ward’s face when April says "daddy" is hard to connect to the Ward that Skye last knew.

‘It’s been a while,’ Skye says. She feels utterly out of her depth; standing with Ward in his home feels _wrong_.

He doesn’t look at her. ‘It must be about four years,’ he says. ‘How is everyone?’

Skye’s not sure if he’s really asking, but if he is, she can’t really answer—with her own team, she hardly sees their old teammates any more. ‘Good,’ she says. ‘I think.’

He nods, but doesn’t ask her to go into detail. She can feel that they’re gently skirting round all of the multitude of sore subjects between them.

‘Have you been doing well?’ Skye asks. ‘I mean obviously you have been—you’ve got this.’

‘Yes,’ he agrees, and the soft look is back along with a small smile. ‘I’ve got this.’

Lincoln returns to her side. ‘We’re all packed up,’ he tells her.

‘Right,’ Skye says. She glances at Ward again. ‘We’ll get out of your house, then.’

Just as she’s leaving, Kara passes her a piece of paper with a mobile number. ‘Just in case,’ she says. ‘And Skye, don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we never meet again.’

Skye nods. ‘I hope we don’t have to bother you,’ she says.

‘Being around Shield never ends well for us,’ Kara says. ‘We just want what’s best for our family.’

‘Of course,’ Skye says. ‘I understand.’

She follows Lincoln and Sebastian out. April’s waving from Ward’s arms.

Skye waves back. ‘Bye!’ she calls.

‘Bye,’ Iris says. She’s holding her mothers’ hands, and Kara gives a slightly half-hearted wave.

She stops and turns to glance back at the apartment once she’s outside. By tomorrow, she knows Kara, Raina, Ward and their daughters won’t live there anymore. She wonders, briefly, if she’s made a mistake and she should have left them alone.

She was just doing her job. It could have been worse. She could have taken Coulson’s backup. And now they can all go their separate ways.

Except that Iris is on Shield’s system now, and can never get off. Skye panics suddenly that her first memory will be of the agents who threatened her parents and took her blood.

Lincoln comes back down the street, catching her hand. ‘Are you okay?’ he asks

‘Yeah,’ Skye says, and then, ‘did we do something wrong?’

He gives her the sort of look that makes Skye think he understands. ‘We did the same as ever,’ he says. ‘And it went better than half the cases we’ve handled.’

Skye nods. She can’t help thinking that he didn’t answer her question.

**Author's Note:**

> \+ find me on [tumblr](http://theshelbywyatt.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/karapalamas/) for complaining about the weather and the way my favs were treated by aos.


End file.
